Light-Responsive Pens: A Result of Nanolithography through Soft Materials
Academic research and industry both pay special attention to the materials that can change shape and functionality in response to stimulants. Such materials have wide applications in artificial muscles, biomedicine, and smart robotics. Photoactuators or light-responsive materials that respond to light provide unique advantages, such as remotely-controlled actuation.
In addition, researchers are focused on physical probe-based nanolithography techniques for molecular printing. Though cantilever-free polymer pens have shown encouraging results recently, they exhibit limitations in pattern complexity since they are only able to duplicate a single pattern throughout the whole array.
This article discusses the nanolithography technique and its applications in the form of photoactuator or light-responsive printing.
What is the nanolithography technique?
Nanolithography is the art of creating structures on the nanometer scale, with applications in developing integrated circuits and parts for semiconductor technology. Nanolithography can construct the most compact transistors and circuits, enabling the building of smaller devices and improving the power, efficiency, and performance of the component.
As per the type of material in use and the specifications of the final structure, numerous distinctive methods are used for carrying out nanolithography machining. The majority of nanolithography methods engage the properties of light or electrons to produce patterns in a substrate.
By adding masks onto the photoresist, this patterning can be targeted so as to shield particular regions from the incoming light. The pattern is subsequently cut onto the exposed regions, and the previously masked areas can also be removed if required.
This pattern is exposed by the electron beam, after which the resistance is developed. The wavelength of light sources used has decreased over time to reduce the critical dimension of features.
What is the role of nanolithography in light-responsive pens?
Light-responsive pens use the polymer pen lithography (PPL) technique, which is an approach to multiplexing scanning probe lithography where an array of probes on a film-coated rigid substrate compliant are used to write patterns on a surface.
It has been recently monitored that these nominally passive pen arrays can also be rendered photo-active by making them out of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a carbon nanotube (CNT) composite. Such photoactuated pens use a rapid, maskless, and versatile nanomanufacturing technique; however, a key challenge that arises is learning to effectively control the writing of each pen individually. Additionally, previous efforts made in the production of individually actuated pens in arrays require complicated individual pen setups that do not provide scalability due to excessive complexity in the pen design.
Thus, to cope with this limitation, the nanolithography technique applies to light-sensitive material to create a patterned coating on a surface. By using light equipment similar to a projector, the pen arrays are easily actuated. Moreover, because of the large photoactuation effects that occur in the polydimethylsiloxane, the control of the pen array is achieved in which carbon nanotube composites are used to fabricate the pens. The actuation process is fast, energy-efficient, and fully reversible, resulting in the illumination of pens for localized printing.
How is nanolithography affecting the next-generation lithography materials market?
With the increased investments and various technological advancements in nanotechnology and nanodevices, the demand for nanolithography has gone up while creating a need for structures on the nanometre scale, complementing the next-generation lithography materials market.
Furthermore, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a U.S. government R&D initiative, is making high-end investments in nanomaterials research, development, and commercialization.
Next-generation lithography is a process of transferring patterns from a photomask to a photoresist, i.e., using light sources, light-sensitive chemicals transfer patterns on a substrate with a wavelength of less than 193nm.
According to the BIS Research report, the global next-generation lithography materials market is projected to reach $1,005.3 million by 2031 from $85.7 million in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 29.46% during the forecast period 2022–2031.
Find more details on this report in this FREE sample.
Though the next-generation lithography materials market is expected to expand significantly with the arrival of several players in the nanolithography ecosystem in the upcoming years, a major barrier to the widespread adoption of next-generation lithography materials in several countries is the high cost of lithography scanners and materials.
Conclusion
With various technological advancements, price reductions, and new companies involved in the nanolithography ecosystem, the next-generation lithography materials market is expected to witness significant growth.
Furthermore, light-responsive pens and several other applications of nanolithography technique have created a robust demand within the next-generation lithography materials market, and by 2030, it is expected to grow further.
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